Michael Jackson might be known as the King of Pop, but his private life was a major source of controversy. The many scandals that followed Jackson throughout his adult life culminated in his trial for child abuse in 2005.

A year prior, a made-for-TV biopic on Jackson premiered on VH1. Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story featured none of Jackson’s music and was universally panned by critics. The film has even gained a reputation online, and while it wouldn’t be the last time someone attempted to portray Jackson on screen, the movie continues to be mocked twenty years later.

Flex Alexander, the actor who played Jackson in the film, said this criticism was difficult to take. He would speak about his experience working on the film in recent years. Alexander even admitted there was one aspect of the film he refused to take part in.

Flex Alexander Once Played Michael Jackson In A Biopic, But Said No To The Prosthetic Nose
In 2004, Michael Jackson was one of the hottest topics in the pop culture news cycle, though not for good reason. The fallout from 2002’s Living with Michael Jackson documentary was still strong and the second wave of child abuse allegations was set to go to trial.

Jackson was being talked about on almost every entertainment news show at the time. For a select group of people, it seemed like the perfect time to make a Michael Jackson biopic.

Those people would go on to make a film titled Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story. It premiered on VH1 as a made-for-TV movie. It wasn’t released in theaters and it didn’t feature any of Jackson’s music, as it was unauthorized. It received extremely negative reviews and continues to be notoriously mocked online.

Flex Alexander, the actor who was cast to play Jackson, told The Pulse with Bill Anderson that he didn’t audition. He met with the producers, who told him they were not interested in making a piece that would bash Jackson, but rather take information from actual court documents. Alexander said that since he was much taller than Jackson, he didn’t think he would even get the part.

The one moment where Alexander put his foot down, he said, was with the prosthetic nose.

“I’m not wearing that,” Alexander said.

Alexander, who said he is a fan of Jackson, also said that he filmed a bunch of scenes performing Jackson’s songs. However, he recalled a moment when someone came to his trailer to inform him the film couldn’t use the songs for legal reasons.

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In 2019, Alexander told D.L. Hughley that he would have a difficult time dealing with people making fun of his performance on social media.

“At first, I was sensitive about it, I just took a job, and you gotta look at yourself. It wasn’t hard for me to do it at the time. I was a huge fan and I never believed any of the stuff anyway,” Alexander said.

Controversy Erupted After A White Actor Was Cast As Michael In A British Made-For-TV Movie
In 2017, it was announced that actor Joseph Fiennes was cast as Jackson in an episode of the British film series Urban Myths. The episode centered around an alleged road trip Jackson took with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The fact that Fiennes was cast caused a wave of backlash, because he is a white actor. Jackson’s fans were vocal about their outrage and the network decided not to air the film. Jackson’s daughter Paris even reacted to the news, tweeting that she was “so incredibly offended by it, as I’m sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.”

At the time, the Oprah Winfrey Networkuploaded a clip from Jackson’s live interview with Winfrey from 1993. In the clip, Jackson cleared up a rumor that he wanted a white child to play a younger version of himself in a Pepsi commercial.

Winfrey mentioned the rumor and asked Jackson if it were true, to which Jackson responded by saying it was “ridiculous” and “horrifying.”

“Number one, it’s my face as a child in the commercial,” Jackson said. “Me, when I was little. Why would I want a white child to play me? I’m a Black American. I’m proud to be a Black American. I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. … That’s like you [Oprah] wanting an oriental person to play you as a child. Does that make sense?”

Michael Opened Up To Oprah Winfrey In The Past About His Vitiligo

Part of the reason so many were upset over the casting of Fiennes was due to the apparent ignorance towards Jackson’s own skin condition.

This is also something Jackson discussed during his live 1993 interview with Winfrey.

When it was announced that Jackson would be interviewed by Winfrey, there were many questions the public hoped he would answer. Many of those questions focused on Jackson’s skin tone. When Jackson released his “Bad” album in 1987, many people took notice of his seemingly lightened skin tone. Jackson’s skin tone only seemed to be getting lighter as the years progressed.

There were some people who suggested Jackson was unhappy with his race and wanted to be white. This is something Winfrey asked Jackson about during their interview. Jackson told Winfrey that he had vitiligo, a condition that causes skin to lose pigmentation. Jackson said that he used makeup to even out his skin tone, since it makes blotches on the skin.

“It is something I cannot help. When people make up stories that I don’t want to be who I am, it hurts me,” Jackson tearfully said. “It’s a problem for me. I can’t control it. But what about all the millions of people who sit in the sun to become darker, to become other than what they are? Nobody says nothing about that.”